Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) of different kinds of tumor were characterized with respect to their expression of cell surface molecules (immunophenotype). The aim of this study was to look for significant correlations between the patterns of surface molecules and the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Furthermore, we compared the immunphenotype of different primary tumors and/or metastases. 303 tumor probes resected at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg were investigated (125 lung cancers, 116 renal cell carcinomas, 21 tumors of the stomach, 4 of mamma, 10 of bladder, 7 of oesophagus, 5 of colon, 5 of brain, and 20 of lung metastases). After preparation of lymphocytes by density centrifugation, cells were stained with a combination of a fluorescein (FITC)- and a phycoerythrin (PE)-labeled monoclonal antibody specific for different surface molecules and analysed in a flow cytometer. The statistical analyses included uni- and multivariate models (Kaplan-Meyer Method, Cox regression Model, General Linear Model). We found no significant correlation between survival of lung cancer patients and the percentages of tumor-infiltrating B lymphocytes, T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. Similarly, no significant correlation could be found between survival and CD4+, CD8+, HLA-DR+, CD56+ and/or CD16+, CD13+, CD25+, CD57+, CD45RO+, CD69+, CD49a+ TIL or the ratio CD4+/CD8+ TIL. We found only an association with patients survival of the percentage of CD11b+-, CD26+- and CD54+ tumor infiltrating T cells (significant only in case of moderate expression). Summarizing our results, we cannot give a clear prediction for the patient’s prognosis with the surface molecules investigated in this study. Comparing TIL of renal cancer und lung cancer, we found several peculiarities of immunophenotype. Age and gender of patients as well as the histological subtype of a tumor had a smaller influence on the surface molecules of TIL. We found similarities between phenotype of metastases and the appropriate primary tumor. Last not least, specific patterns were described for the TIL’s immunophenotype of tumors of stomach, bladder, oesophagus, colon and brain. |